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Rugby Sevens consultants make their medal predictions for the Paris 2024 Olympics
- Australia and New Zealand named huge favourites within the males’s and girls’s occasions.
- Argentina, France and Canada additionally tipped as medal contender.
- Ellie Kildunne (GB) and Marcos Moneta (Arg) earmarked as potential standout gamers
The Paris 2024 Olympics begins in only a matter of days, with the Rugby Sevens kicking off
proceedings on July twenty fourth, simply earlier than the official opening ceremony on the twenty sixth. Promote-out crowds are already anticipated for the boys’s and girls’s occasions and there’s already an excessive amount of anticipation round which nations will find yourself within the medal tables.
Loads of eyes are stated to be on the likes of Australia and New Zealand within the battle for gold in each the boys’s and girls’s video games. Nonetheless, the boys’s Fiji facet shall be seeking to make it three golds in a row, following their iconic successes in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. Moreover, the Argentinian males’s staff are being touted as darkish horses and a few imagine the French sides might additionally capitalise on a house benefit.
That is in keeping with the predictions for this 12 months’s Olympic Sevens from quite a lot of consultants concerned within the sevens sport – together with present and former gamers and coachesin an unique function with rugby web site, RugbyPass. Alongside this, a number of of these interviewed right here have touted a number of gamers they imagine shall be standout performers throughout the tournaments.
Gareth Baber and Mike Friday
Gareth Baber, the coach who famously guided the Fiji males’s facet to their second gold medal in Tokyo 2020, and the present USA Males’s Sevens staff coach, Mike Friday, have each predicted that the respective sides the place they’ve sturdy allegiances are those who’re in with an opportunity of gold.
Gareth stated: “I do know individuals shall be frightened about Fiji, given their monitor document. There’s work to be finished there, however they definitely can medal. The nation is steeped in sevens rugby and so they’ve persistently produced some gamers who can actually do one thing.”
Mike said: “I feel we’re [USA] going to be a bolt out of the blue – we’ve got the aptitude to trigger absolute havoc.”
Each went on to champion the antipodean and French sides too:
Gareth stated: “New Zealand shall be positioning themselves as actual medal contenders too.
I’d additionally again France to do effectively, however their main problem is developing a body to assist
their gamers do their greatest stuff in entrance of the house crowd.”
Mike defined: “France in each the boys’s and the ladies’s are contenders. However trying
simply on the girls’s, it’s going to be the likes of Australia and New Zealand which might be
pushing for gold.”
Mike then singled out a number of gamers to observe from the boys’s and girls’s occasions: “You’ve bought the Levi sisters who’re incredible, Jorja Miller is an actual catalyst too for New Zealand, however they’ve additionally bought Michaela Blyde and Portia Woodman – a core of wonderful gamers. On the boys’s facet, Marcos Moneta for Argentina, Dupont – simply because it’s him – Terry Kennedy from Eire is only a correct baller and can make issues occur.”
Katy Daley-McLean MBE and Rachael Burford.
Former England and Staff GB Girls’s Sevens stars, Katy Daley-McLean and Rachael Burford gave these medal predictions for the ladies’s occasions:
Katy stated: “Australia and New Zealand are huge favourites, however with their fashion of rugby, I feel Canada and France shall be within the combine there as effectively.” Rachael commented: “France – though below a whole lot of stress – are at their greatest once they’re at house…Australia and New Zealand are coming into the Olympics very sturdy and lots of people expect them to battle it out for the gold, however it’ll rely upon who stays match for them.”
Amongst their participant suggestions, in addition they suggested to be careful for Ellie Kildunne and Megan Jones of Staff GB:
Katy defined: “I reckon if she [Ellie] smashes it within the Olympics and the subsequent Rugby World Cup, she has the potential to turn out to be a family identify.” Whereas Rachael believes: “Meg shall be large for GB, her presence will remodel that staff. She alone will improve the power of the entire squad.”
Tom Mitchell and Luke Treharne
Tom Mitchell, former England and Staff GB Sevens captain, and Luke Treharne, former Staff GB Sevens participant and present Hong Kong 7s abilities coach, supplied these views:
Tom said: “Taking a look at Argentina, Marcos Moneta who has come again from damage to make the squad is an absolute gun when totally firing…it’s additionally arduous to look past Australia and New Zealand.”
Luke stated: “For the ladies, I’ve been toying between the 2 juggernauts of Australia and New Zealand, however I feel New Zealand will get the gold. France will get the bronze. As for the boys, I feel it’s going to go one thing like Argentina for gold, Fiji silver and Eire bronze.”
Naya Tapper and Jodie Ounsley.
RugbyPass additionally bought the views of former England and Staff GB Girls’s Sevens wing, Jodie Ounsley, in addition to present USA Girls’s Sevens captain, Naya Tapper.
Jodie understandably selected her former teammates to go all the way in which: “I’ve to again the GB girls’s facet, however Australia and New Zealand are so sturdy and are undoubtedly groups to look out for.” Naya – who shall be competing this summer season – additionally demonstrated some nationwide pleasure by backing her nation for Olympics success: “For the ladies’s and males’s facet I manifest USA taking the gold. Let’s hope we are able to come again to this dialog and reward how nice I’m at predictions.”
Jodie was one other professional to precise admiration for Staff GB’s Ellie Kildunne: “She’s coming again to sevens and he or she’s going to carry so many followers along with her and I do know she’s going to make an amazing influence and be a storm on the Olympics. She’s going to get individuals speaking for positive.” Naya went on to spotlight loads of names for the ladies’s occasions: “Ilona Maher, Maddi Levi, Teagan Levi, Michaela Blyde, Portia Woodman, Anne-Cécile Ciofani, Séraphine Okemba – with how a lot expertise we’ve got within the sport throughout all groups I might go on and on.”
The schedule for the boys’s sevens runs from July 24 – twenty seventh – with a break within the center for the opening ceremony – and the ladies’s occasion begins on July twenty eighth and concludes on July thirtieth. If these predictions are to be believed, followers and neutrals alike might be set to see a hotly contested sequence. For additional particulars, you could find the complete number of predictions and ‘ones to observe’ from these consultants right here: https://www.rugbypass.com/sevens/olympics/mens-and-womens-expert-
predictions/